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Obama Approval Numbers Show Even His Home State Is Abandoning Him

Barack Obama didn’t have a cheery Thanksgiving as his approval numbers plummeted in two states that normally support the President. Approval numbers in Obama’s home state of Illinois dropped seven points in the last year and are now down to 50 percent, while a Qunnipiac University poll left him with a 34 percent approval rating in the swing state of Ohio.

Although Obama maintains a 92 percent approval rating with African-Americans in Illinois, his numbers in the state have dropped significantly among women and Hispanics. The sharp decline in approval is particularly startling for the Obama administration because he defeated Mitt Romney by 17 points in Illinois during the last election.

Obama beat Romney by four points in Ohio, but it’s unlikely he’d be doing that in 2014 if his latest numbers in that state are any indication. He had 83 percent approval among African-American voters, but just 30 percent of men, 38 percent of women and 23 percent of white voters.

The Quinnipiac University poll shows that 54 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Obama is doing overall, compared to 39 percent who approve. Polling institute director Tim Malloy confirmed that “President Obama’s job approval rating has fallen to the level of former President George H.W. Bush at the same period of his Presidency.” Ratings from male and female voters from all age and economic backgrounds have shown higher disapproval ratings than approval ratings.

Much of Obama’s recent disapproval stems from the difficulties regarding the rollout of ObamaCare. Although the President acknowledged that “we fumbled the rollout on this health care law,” he insisted that the Affordable Health Care act website has “gotten a lot better over the last few weeks.” The White House has said they hope to fix all the website glitches by the end of the year, but that appears increasingly unlikely.